DeFazio Won't Challenge GOP's Gordon Smith
Despite a DSCC-commissioned poll showing that Dem Rep. Peter DeFazio was running ahead of hyper-vulnerable GOP Senator Gordon Smith, DeFazio tells The Oregonian today that he won't make the race.
In another indication of Smith's vulnerability, the incumbent Senator was the only Republican in the Senate to vote for a Harry Reid-sponsored resolution on Iraq a few weeks back. But that and the DSCC poll weren't enough to persuade DeFazio to give up his slot on "a powerful House Transportation subcommittee responsible for doling out hundreds of billions of dollars of highway funding," the paper says.
"This was not an easy decision," DeFazio said. "You don't get a poll that shows you're ahead of an incumbent senator and generous offers of support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and just blow it off. It was a long and serious deliberation on my part."
I am an Oregonian, and have known Defazio from before he was elected to Congress. Personally, I agree with his decision. He has spent twenty years building senority in the House. He is chair of the Surface Transportation Sub-Committee of the Transportation Committee, and has a chance to have a major impact on transportation policy. I don't think it makes sense for him to give that up.
The DSCC is looking for a big name, but there is already a very strong activist candidate who has gotten into the race. His name is Steve Novick. He is a writer and a consumer activist. He is a very bright, Harvard Law educated guy who is determined to hold Gordon Smith to account for his hypocracy.
Novick is also disabled. He was born with some sort of congenital condition (not dwarfism) and is only about four feet tall. I have not met him or heard him speak, but his writing is excellent. Oregon is the sort of place where an unusual candidate may do very well.
Senator Ron Wyden was a 30 year old Gray Panther organizer when he knocked off a 10 year incumbent Democrat to win his original House seat. Keep your eye on Novick, I think he could go places. He would be one of the strongest progressives in the Senate.
April 21, 2007 9:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank yew very much.
Where do I send a check? :-)
Wow!
Best, Terry
April 21, 2007 2:12 PM | Reply | Permalink